The thing that has me worried? Someone from 343i had to okay the CGi trailer. Now, you can say there's not armor abilities in the game. That's fine. But the stuff in the video did look like armor abilities (ground pound attack, jet pack, etc.)

Even more realistically, 343i people collaborated on it. And I can't imagine they simply put all that stuff in there for no reason.

Aye. I'm hestitant to believe that dashing and ground-pounding is anything but an AA by another name.

Ivan, I refuse to make any further bets with you at this point - sorry duder.

I was going to scrounge up a 7-day XBL Gold code and post that for you Ivan, but I can't seem to find any left in my house. You'll have to settle for these delightful gold m chiefs instead.

edit: some random x-posted thoughts on H4 and H5;

I liked the base combat in Halo 4, the DMR felt great to use in the beginning... But over time, it became clear that the changes 343 had made were too extreme. They fundamentally changed the way Halo is played, and not for the better.

Matches quickly swing in favor of the stronger team, as they are awarded an endless stream of power weapons that become easier and easier to obtain. By the end of the match, one team is running around with snipers and rockets while the other sits helplessly, getting pounded into oblivion with no chance to strike back.

Instead of emphasizing teamwork and map control, it's merely a race to get a handful of kills and call in ordnance as quickly as possible, regardless of the game type. In that way, it is no different than Call of Duty. The objectives are merely a distraction in what is ultimately a game of attrition.

I sincerely hope that the comment about arena mode is proof that 343 recognizes this to at least some extent, and is taking steps to correct it. Removing armor abilities is definitely a huge step in the right direction as well.

Depending on how powerful the ground pound is (if that's actually what it is), it makes me a little worried about melee combat, being one of the original three pillars of Halo gameplay. Maybe I'm over-thinking this and it's not going to be a big deal, but 343's track record thus far does not exactly inspire confidence...

The slide I don't really mind. It doesn't break map traversal like the jet pack, and merely serves as a quick way to get into a crouch and maintain your forward momentum for a little while.

I'll never understand these YouTube channels that take tiny scraps of information and make a video spanning 15 minutes of speculation. There is perhaps an interesting question to be asked relating to the title and the barrier kills. However, this is something that could be said in a sentence or paragraph. And most certainly without asking me to click like on your channel.

Rest easy. The Didacts little speech at the end of Halo 4 says that Forerunners are/were Guardians of something or other (i'd venture the Mantle....been a while since I finished the game). I'm sure that's what it is referencing.

That really depends, but my current stance on that either way is no. I do not want the jetpack returning or anything resembling armor lock. We already know they are incorporating these "abilities" into everyone's movesets so this probably won't happen anyway.